Grants make expansion of Pets for Life program in Charleston County possible
October 5, 2017
Charleston Animal Society Will Offer Program in Hollywood-Ravenel Area
Charleston Animal Society has expanded its award-winning Pets for Life program to the Hollywod-Ravenel area of Charleston County. Pets for Life is an outreach program that provides medical and other services for pets and their families in underserved areas of urban and rural areas around the country.
The Pets for Life guiding principle states that financial means are not an indicator of how much you love your pet or care about your pet or deserve to have the unconditional love a pet brings to a family.
A grant from the Elinor Patterson Baker Foundation has made the expansion to Hollywood-Ravenel possible. When the program launched in North Charleston in 2014, only 12% of pets were spayed or neutered in the 29405 zip code. By 2016, Pets for Life outreach increased that number to 87%. Last year, Pets for Life served 1,144 families in North Charleston, including 2,104 pets, 3,312 medical services and 786 spay-neuter surgeries.
In addition, the City of North Charleston awarded a Community Assistance Grant earlier in 2017 which enabled the program to continue in the Chicora-Cherokee area of North Charleston. “We are so thankful for these grants. They will allow us to continue to serve families with pets in ways that are so necessary in Charleston County,” said Charleston Animal Society Anti-Cruelty and Outreach Director Aldwin Roman.
Charleston Animal Society’s Pets for Life program was nationally recognized this year, chosen as having the biggest impact on the community, among 35 other cities around the country. The Humane Society of the United States, which started the Pets for Life Program, gives the award once a year.
